This book is about the mystical influence of a role on its creator and performer. There are known cases of the inexplicable negative influence of film and theater roles on the fate of performers, when they embodied the forces of evil on the screen and on stage, tried to “penetrate” the other world, and also “died” in the frame and on the stage. These cases affected not only actors, but also directors, screenwriters and other members of the film crew. Of the domestic actors, we can, for example, remember N. Varley, who almost died during the filming of “Viy” and was ill for a long time after, Zh. Friske, who recently passed away. There are countless sad examples: the death of A. Balabanov after a cameo role where his character dies, A. Krasko shortly after the film about the other world “I Remain” (the actor died before the film’s release and did not participate in the dubbing), the death of members of the film crew of the American “ Poltergeist" with the participation of young actress Heather Michelle O'Rourke; The Twilight Zone, starring Vic Morrow; "The Crow", which became the last film of Bruce Lee's son Brandon. Everyone knows the fate of the legendary Superman Chris Reeve, who found himself confined to a wheelchair, and the tragic death of Heath Ledger, best remembered for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight... The book is written in a sharp, partly “horror” vein, but at the same time tact and correctness are observed in relation to the memory of the victims and their descendants, links are given to publications in the domestic and foreign press, and a brief summary of each film mentioned is provided.